I have no idea why I am saying that… I don’t have a job, and I am on summer break from school. We should enjoy everyday, even if it’s a Monday! Let’s always find something to be grateful for, even if we are thinking, “UGH I HATE MONDAYS!!!” Let me start, I am grateful for all of the fabulous people in my life!

Well, it is Friday, and I decided that today I needed some at home spa action! My favorite time to pamper myself is post workout, so I made sure to make myself sweat before I could enjoy the fruits of my labor, so to speak.

For starters, make sure you are drinking lots of water! It is important to stay hydrated, and your body will thank you for it.

First things first, I did a lot of heat styling while I was in Washington, so I needed a nice deep condition session for those lovely locks of mine. I love coconut oil. I took about 3 tablespoons and spread it throughout my hair evenly. I warmed the solidified oil up in my hands beforehand, and then I made sure to focus on the ends of my hair.

I like to let the oil sit in my hair for about an hour (it’s in there as I type!!). Then I go about my normal washing routine. Yes, I condition twice.

The oil from Trader Joe’s is great. I got this jar for about $5 USD. I have had it for almost a year now.

Next, what is a pamper session without a good ‘ol face mask? I chose Mask of Magnaminty from LUSH because it’s the only mask I own right now! I like it though. The cool tingling sensation is perfect for summer.

I spread a thin layer all over my CLEAN* face and let it sit for about 30 min. I rinse with warm water.

*I went for a run and made sure to wash my face before adding the face mask. I was covered in sweat in sunscreen, no bueno for a mask!

Body scrub!! Yay! After conditioning my hair, I like to pop in the shower. A full body scrub down is in order. I am loving this Olive Oil Creme exfoliant from The Body shop.

After you shower, go ahead and slather yourself in the matching body butter! I don’t have that, so the Christmas Gingerbread one will have to do! (It smells like ginger ale, amazing!).

Time to top it all off with a nice mani. I love love love Chanel nail polish!! This color may not be summery, but I like to bend the rules! I mean, I just used a Christmas body butter in July for goodness sakes! 😉

I’m too lazy for a base/top coat. I find that I don’t need one with Chanel polish. I get a good week out of them with no added help usually!

Well, that’s it for my little pamper session!! It feels nice to wind down after a fulfilling vacation (and a nice run!).

I was attempting to film my everyday makeup routine today, but my camera decided to bug out on me right when I got to doing my eyeliner. I was bummed, but I decided to scratch the video and just do a quick pictorial on how I do my winged eyeliner! I used the Stila Stay All Day liquid liner pen today.

Hopefully I will have my next video up fairly quickly. It looks like I need to clear up some memory on my card before I try to make such a large video!

I promise, I will film an in depth winged eyeliner tutorial as my next video! Onto the pictorial!

Step 1:

First things first, with your eyeliner, line your lash line. I find it easiest to start in the middle, then move outward. I then go back to the middle and line inward. You want your line to gradually increase in thickness as you move outward.

Step 2:

Next, you need to relax your face and look completely straight into the mirror. You want to draw (with a light hand) the bottom part of your wing. You want it to be proportional to the very tail end of your eyebrow. Since my eyes are hooded, I draw the line with a relaxed face because if you pull your skin taught, it will look wonky when your eye is in it’s normal resting position.

Step 3:

Now, you want to draw the upper half of your wing and connect it to the outer corner of your eyeliner that was previously drawn. You want your wing to be sharp, like a dagger. You want people to fear you because of how intimidating those wings are!

Step 4:

This step may be the easiest of them all. Just fill in that empty space between the top part of the wing and the lower part. Now, if you are happy with the thickness, you may leave your wing the way it is and skip step 5 and move onto step 6. If you are fierce, like a lion, you may proceed.

Step 5:

Retrace that sweet, sweet liner and make it just a bit more THICK! Now, you are the king/queen of the animal kingdom. You have achieved what many still fear. If you are reading this and you decided to keep your tiny dagger the way it was, you, my dear, are still a fierce lion. Any cat eye, no matter the size, is a victorious moment.

Step 6:

Curl those lashes! I keep my curler in between my thighs while I do my makeup so that it may warm up. You can always blast it with a blow dryer for a few seconds as well. I hold this curling position for 10-15 seconds per eye.

Step 7:

Run some mascara over those lashes! I did one coat, waited a minute, then applied a second coat.

First off, I want to thank henryfacebeauty for the inspiration for this post! I was planning on posting this tutorial later on down the road, but it seemed like a great idea after seeing her recent post! I love seeing how every person has their own techniques, and it is so nice to learn from each other! (She puts a few drops of olive oil in with her diluted soap for conditioning!)

Cleaning your makeup brushes regularly is VERY important, not only for your skin but your makeup too! Oils from your skin will build up over time which can definitely give you acne. The oil that has built up can then be transferred to your makeup which can create a film overtime. If you have noticed that your cosmetics are not as pigmented as they used to be, it could be the result of you neglecting those beloved makeup brushes! Your makeup is not ruined by the way, you can always scrape off the top layer. Who wants to keep wasting their makeup when that can easily be prevented?

Tools Needed:

You do not need to purchase expensive brush cleaners! Baby Shampoo/Dr. Bronner’s works just as well, if not better! The baby shampoo is cheaper than Dr. Bronner’s, but I strongly recommend Bronner’s for personal use! I use it to wash my body, face, hair, hand wash only clothing, makeup brushes, the list really goes on! I have baby mild, which would be most suitable for makeup brushes. I would love to buy more scents eventually though! I use baby shampoo and Dr. Bronner’s interchangeably.

STEP 1: You will want to few a few drops of soap into a shallow cup of warm water.

STEP 2: Swirl your brush into the water.
STEP 3: Take your freshly “swirled” brush and press the bristles to the clean towel.

STEP 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the same brush until the water transfer is clean on the towel. (I usually only need to repeat once- unless it is my lip brush!)

Repeat steps 2-4 with all of your brushes.

STEP 5: Rinse ALL of your soapy brushes in warm water.

STEP 6: Wipe the water off the handles with your towel, and press the bristles into a clean portion of the towel to get the bulk of the water out.

STEP 7: Hang your brushes upside down to dry.

I got this cute little octopus hanger at IKEA for $5! It also comes in red and white. I put a click-through link above on the list of items needed.

It is important to hang your brushes upside down because water could get trapped in the brushes leading to mold/mildew. You don’t want that on your face!

I would suggest to clean your brushes once a week if you wear makeup everyday. I don’t wear makeup everyday (too tired!), so I usually wash mine once every two weeks. Brushes used for liquid foundation should be washed after EVERY use! Beauty blenders (mine is generic) are great for liquid foundation. To clean mine: I dipped it in the soapy water last, squished it at the bottom of the cup repeatedly, then rinsed through with warm water twice. I squeezed as much of the excess water out as I could, then propped it on top of the octopus!

If you do not own any makeup brushes, I HIGHLY suggest ecotools! You can find them at: Target, ULTA, Rite-Aid, Amazon, etc… They are highly affordable and last forever. If you need something cheaper than that, the studio line from ELF is great (black handles).